1. Eleventh Circuit becomes third federal appeals court to switch to a majority of Republican-appointed judges since Trump took office
2. Today is the deadline for recall supporters to submit signatures in Michigan's 104th state House district
3. What’s the Tea?

Eleventh Circuit becomes third federal appeals court to switch to a majority of Republican-appointed judges since Trump took office

The U.S. Senate confirmed Florida Supreme Court judges Barbara Lagoa and Robert Luck to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit this week. This marks the third appellate court to change from a majority of Democrat-appointed judges to a majority of Republican-appointed judges since President Trump took office. Lagoa and Luck were appointed to the Florida Supreme Court in January 2019 by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).

Judge Stanley Marcus—who was appointed to the court by President Clinton in 1997—will assume senior status when Lagoa is formally sworn-in. At that time, the court will have no vacancies, seven Republican-appointed judges, and five Democrat-appointed judges. Trump has appointed five of the court’s 12 judges.

The 2nd and 3rd Circuits also changed from majority Democrat- to majority Republican-appointed judges during the Trump administration. Trump has appointed five of the 13 judges on the 2nd Circuit and four of the 14 judges on the 3rd Circuit.

Overall, the Senate has confirmed 164 of President Trump’s Article III judicial nominees—two Supreme Court justices, 48 appellate court judges, 112 district court judges, and two U.S. Court of International Trade judges—since January 2017.

There are 13 U.S. courts of appeal. They are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal court system. The table below shows the current split of judges by party of the appointing president for each of the eleven numbered circuits. 

The two other intermediate appellate courts are the D.C. Circuit and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The D.C. Circuit currently has seven Democratic- and four Republican-appointed judges. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has eight Democratic- and four Republican-appointed judges.

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Today is the deadline for recall supporters to submit signatures in Michigan's 104th state House district 

Today is the deadline for supporters of an effort to recall Michigan state Rep. Larry Inman (R) to submit 12,201 signatures to trigger a recall election. The recall petition was submitted to the Michigan Board of State Canvassers on July 19 and was approved for circulation on August 1. UpNorthLive reported this week that supporters of the recall are planning on delivering signatures to the state board of canvassers in Lansing today.

According to the petition, supporters are trying to recall Inman due to his indictment on three felony counts and missing more than 80 votes during the 2019 legislative session. Federal prosecutors charged Inman in May 2019 with extortion, lying to the FBI, and lying to investigators about texts soliciting contributions. His trial is expected to begin Dec. 3. On Aug. 29, the state House passed a resolution urging him to resign by a 98-8 vote.

Inman responded to the recall petition Sept. 3 by saying, "I can’t really measure the public and their wishes, but people right now that I [run] into in Traverse City, in the grocery store and gas stations, they all shake my hand and give me words of encouragement."

Inman was elected to the state House in 2014. He defeated Dan O'Neil (D) 50.4% to 49.6% to win re-election to a third, two-year term in 2018. 

Since 2011, 85 recall petitions have been filed against state lawmakers. Nine recalls were successful, nine were defeated at the ballot, 63 did not go to a vote, and four are still ongoing. California state Sen. Josh Newman (D) was recalled in 2018. Two Colorado state senators were successfully recalled in 2013.

Ballotpedia has tracked 99 recall efforts of state legislators from 1913 to 2018, with 29 of those occurring in Michigan. Four such efforts made the ballot and three Michigan legislators were successfully recalled. The last Michigan legislator recalled was Rep. Paul Scott (R) in 2011.

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